Spring football kicked off across the state Monday and many schools had plenty of new faces. Winter Park has a key nucleus of players returning from last year’s 7-4 team, but lost nine starters overall.

Gone to graduation will be quarterback Grant Conner, running back Bobby Johnson III, receivers Atticus Van Dyke and Zion Wolf, offensive linemen Cam Clark and Ethan Taylor, defensive end Mekhi Lockhart and linebacker Casey McDonald, while junior defensive end Drew Follett has transferred to Bishop Moore.

Winter Park will have a pair of newcomers in the backfield. Returning to the scene after spending last season at Viera High is rising junior quarterback Robbie Blaylock. He was at Winter Park as a freshman before spending last season at Viera. He returned this year after Winter Park lost Conner and underclassman QB Will Jackson, who transferred to Camden County (Ga.).

Also new is rising senior running back Decorie Johnson, a transfer who ran for 751 yards and 9 touchdowns at Lake Howell last season. Johnson averaged 8 yards per carry and is a big runner, at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds. The Wildcats return four offensive linemen who saw solid minutes a year ago.

• Two schools will not have a spring game this year due to suspensions handed down by OCPS last season. Following a game between Orlando University High and Cypress Creek, Nov. 14, which University won 42-6, with a running clock in the second half, a fight broke out. Things got a bit chippy between the two teams during the game and it carried over to the handshake line afterward. Several players were suspended, and some were even removed from the Cypress Creek team. OCPS decided, along with the suspensions, both teams would also not be allowed to have a spring game this year.
• Cypress Creek, which went 0-10 last season and has lost 21 straight games, is still without a head coach after first-year coach Ryan Mills stepped down in January. Mills resigned to take over as the head coach at Davenport High. Cypress Creek has had difficulty keeping continuity with its head football coaching position. Since 2010, the Bears have had 10 coaches, including 6 in the past eight seasons. During that stretch, Cypress Creek is 24-127, with the best season coming in 2022, when the Bears went 7-3 under Doug Gabriel, who is now at Wekiva.
• University High recently hired former Faith Christian head coach Dave Carrington as its new head coach. Former coach Jeremy Palmer had to step aside while dealing with some health issues. University was 2-8 last season. Carrington was at Faith for five seasons, compiling a record of 19-30. Carrington said, “We will hit the weight room hard, play a ton of 7-on-7, recruit our hallways and we’ll get the best out of every kid we have. We’ll chase greatness and enjoy the climb.”

Chris Hays can be found on X.com@OS_ChrisHays.